Never underestimate the power of spirituality in keeping things on the sunny side

Spirituality and culture define who we are, what we believe in and our value system. They strengthen us in times of trial and Lord knows life is full of trouble.

My spirituality was formed by a deeply religious Jehovah’s Witness mother, Roman Catholic funerals, and the culture that swirled around me. Nothing resonates deeper than the 23rd Psalm -“The Lord is my Shepherd I shall not want.”

From as far back as I can remember, my mother was a Jehovah’s Witness. We sat around the dining room table reading Bible passages and braiding the tablecloth fringe when she wasn’t looking. We attended five hours of religious meetings a week and did the door-to-door ministry. Other than the socializing and public speaking, I grew to loathe it.

Catholic funerals, on the other hand, were strange and wonderful events with solemn organ music, incense, strange Latin incantations and incomprehensible up, down, kneel routines. It was all very mystic and according to my mother straight from Satan the Devil.

The Good Shepherd

On December 20, 1954 CBHT started televising in Halifax, NS. My dad, who worked at CBHT, had gotten an RCA TV a month before.

The first movie on television was a tear-jerker about a boy and his collie dog. The boy got sick and had to walk through dark woods. He recited the 23rd Psalm to keep up his courage.

All the JW bible classes pale into insignificance against the image of courage found in those words.

“The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Psalm 23

When I became disabled for the second time in 1999, it was hard to think the Lord was looking out for me. My life was a mess – no job, wife on the way out the door, my children were in various stages of trouble, friends were hard to find. For a workaholic businessman and family man who reeked of success, this was a new low.

Nine years ago Father Danny Wilson of St. Dunstan’s Basilica used the first few lines of the 23rd Psalm in his homily “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures”.

He said God had more than lying down in mind – good since I was lying down all day long. Fr. Danny said those pastures were “green” – rich, lush, verdant, comfortable.

Father Danny was right. God had something in mind for me. It wasn’t a brand new SUV. It was more love for my fellow man and a few personal rewards on the side.

Since then I learned about acceptance from Buddhism. I renewed Biblical stoicism from examples like Job in the writing of Pope John Paul’s apostolic letter Salvifici Doloris – salvation through suffering.

In the end, it all comes back to the image deep inside that the Lord is my Shepherd.

It’s not materialistic Christianity. God does not reward  us with a middle-class lifestyle. No one disdains comfort with honest conviction; however, after the necessities nothing is of lasting value.

The latest gadget is worthless the moment you put it down. Another home or cottage is a useless money pit.

For those who are dying or face a near-death experience, life and people are the only things of value.

And the Lord is my Shepherd through it all and I fear nothing.

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